Softly melting – smart running
At Camille Bloch, chocolatier tradition meets state-of-the-art drive technology:
The Swiss chocolate manufacturer invested in a modern logistics center at its Courtelary site. Lenze Smart motors drive the roller and chain conveyors in the system built by material flow specialist Stöcklin.
Function and performance in a confined space
Compared to new construction on a greenfield site, expansions of existing production facilities always bring with them the challenge that available space and thus spatial expansion possibilities are limited. This quickly becomes clear when looking at the new high-bay warehouse for raw materials, packaging materials and finished goods at Bloch. The material flow experts from Stöcklin in Switzerland therefore design their horizontal material flow technology solutions to be as compact as possible without having to compromise on function or ease of installation.
High breakaway torques reliably handled
Limited installation space is also an issue for Stöcklin in the current logistics project at Camille Bloch - the Lenze Smart Motor was used here. This motor is one size smaller than comparable mains-powered drives. In addition, the motor meets the demand for high power density, above all due to its fourfold overload capacity. Lenze has incorporated this feature into its drive solution, which specialises in horizontal conveying technology, because breakaway torques in material flow are an important aspect in the design and dimensioning of drives.
"If we want to convey pallets, we need energy. However, the drives do not run continuously, I always have to consider how to do the job as smartly as possible, while expending as little energy as necessary," says Oliver Colombo, area manager for horizontal conveyor technology at Stöcklin. Whereas in the past the comparatively high breakaway torques could only be controlled with a correspondingly lavish drive design, the Lenze Smart Motor covers this maximum power requirement, which is temporarily limited to a few seconds, by quadrupling the rated power for a short time. This means that the drive electronics provide sufficient power during start-up, and the geared motor itself only needs to be designed for normal operation. After all, once the freight is in motion, I need little energy on the line compared to startup.
Smart and simple: fixed speeds freely adjustable
Another plus point: With the mechatronic units, four different speeds can be selected at the touch of a button - for example, to move forward and backward at two speeds under PLC control. In addition, if speed adjustments are required in an application, these can be changed very easily with the Lenze app via the NFC (Near Field Communication) interface. With the Lenze Smart Motor, the company has also succeeded in precisely addressing the total costs of ownership and offering the material flow a completely rethought drive solution.
